Emmanuel Schalit, Founder and CEO of Dashlane, explains the source of organizational pressure when deciding to raise a massive growth funding round.
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“The pressure is not coming from the board and the investors. If you are A self-motivated executive. That pressure comes from inside. It's, you've just made the decision to take that round, and so as such, you have created that pressure for yourself. Nobody has forced it upon you. My board didn't tell me we should do that round. I came to them and said to them, I think given the opportunity we have, it does make sense to do it, and I accept the implications of doing it.”
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